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6th grade · Social Studies · Unit 1 of 15

Time & Evidence

BCE and CE, artifacts and sources

What your child practices

Counting years in BCE and CE, centuries and calendars, artifacts and archaeology, and judging primary and secondary sources about the ancient world.

New York State Learning Standards learning standard: 6.2b; 6.2d · counting time in BCE and CE, how archaeologists study artifacts, and judging sources about the ancient world

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. BCE years count down toward year 1; CE years count up. A bigger BCE number is older.
  2. For two BCE dates, subtract the smaller from the bigger to find years between.
  3. Archaeologists use artifacts and remains. An era is a long period, like the Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages (in that order).

Example: How many years passed from 3000 BCE to 1000 BCE? Both are BCE, so subtract. 3000 − 1000 = 2000. Answer: 2000 years

Time & Evidence in New York

In the New York State Learning Standards, this is unit 1 of 15 in 6th grade Social Studies, before First Farmers.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: New York State Education Department (NYSED)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    What is an era?

    • A single day
    • A type of coin
    • A kind of map
    • A long period of history with shared features

  2. Question 2

    Which source would best show what people in Pompeii ate?

    • Food remains found in the ruins
    • A map of today's Italy
    • A cartoon
    • A modern cookbook

  3. Question 3

    A secondary source is useful because it…

    • Never has mistakes
    • Brings many sources together and explains them
    • Was made at the time
    • Is always unbiased

  4. Question 4

    Which is a primary source about ancient Egypt?

    • A modern encyclopedia
    • Your textbook
    • A movie about pharaohs
    • A papyrus written by an Egyptian scribe

  5. Question 5

    Why do different cultures measure time differently?

    • They base calendars on different events and cycles
    • Only one calendar is real
    • Time is different in each country
    • They can't count

  6. Question 6

    Radiocarbon dating helps archaeologists…

    • Read hieroglyphs
    • Estimate the age of things that were once alive
    • Draw maps
    • Find gold

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